Alice Grace Host

There is something unspeakable about a life that spans more than a century. How can we possibly sum up the content and experiences of such a life adequately? For the life of Alice Grace Host we see that it was the love that she shared with this world and those with whom she is closest to. We celebrate the handprint she left on the hearts of all that knew her.

In the 1904, the industrial revolution was taking hold. It was only a year after the Ford Motor Company was organized and the Wright brothers took the first flight at Kitty Hawk. The London Symphony orchestra began and the first telephone answering machine was created. Named after President, Theodore Roosevelt, the first Teddy Bear was also produced in 1904. More than all these things, parents, Emery and Lottie (Thorne) Rogers had on their mind only one thing in that year. In the middle of autumn, on the 8th of October, their daughter Alice Grace, was born into this world.

Alice was the youngest of three, with her two siblings, Chester and Hanson, older than she. Alice very much enjoyed playing the piano in her younger years. Growing up she attended the neighborhood schools and graduated from Union High School. After high school, Alice went on to study and the Teacher's College to pursue the honorable profession of teaching. From there she obtained her teaching certificate.

Late in her teenage years, Alice endured the pain that all children dread from the time they're old enough to know that it's coming eventually. When Alice was 19 years old her mother died from a lingering illness at the young age of 43.

The romance of Alice's life began when she was just a young girl. There was this boy that lived just around the corner. They began as childhood friends, but as the years progressed their young affections turned into a mature love and on the 8th of April, 1926, Lloyd Host took Alice to be his lawfully wedded wife. That following January, they celebrated the birth of their first child, Ruth, making them a family of three. The other three children were not long in coming after their oldest sister. Once Lloyd J. (Sonny), Charlotte, and Mary Margaret were born, the family was complete, and Alice settled into the difficult yet rewarding life of a farm wife and mother.

There isn't anything that Alice wouldn't do for the service of others. If there was ever anyone who needed something, she was there willing to do her part. She very much enjoyed working at the chicken dinner at the church. Alice was a generous soul and giving of herself was something that was simply a part of her nature.

Alice was a 4-H leader for many years. Both she and Lloyd were active in the Farm Bureau for many years as well. The family continued to farm until Lloyd died. After her husband's death in 1976, Alice moved in with her son, Lloyd and Barbara. She remained there until she endured the awful occasion of having to bury her own child when Lloyd died a number of years later. Prior to her son's death, her daughter Charlotte passed away in 1985. At that time, Alice moved to live with her daughter Ruth in 1994. In 1997, she moved out of Ruth's place and spent the rest of her live in assisted care facilities; first the Villa Elizabeth and then finally to the St. Mary's Living Center in 2000. After the death of her husband, she spent summers in Syracuse, New York with her daughter Mary, son-in-law Julius and children Eric and Amy. One of Alice's great loves was fishing on Lake Ontario,

Alice loved to sew and crochet if she was inside, but on the occasion to enjoy the warmth of the sun, Alice could be found engulfed in her flower gardening which she also cared a great deal about. While she was physically able, Alice enjoyed many bus trips throughout the states.

Whether it was Alice's knack for seeking out mischief or her good sencs of humor, Alice enjoyed life. Alice's life was filled with much love and many prayers. She even wore out her rosary on prayers for her grandchildren. It was the love of her family that mattered to Alice. In her one hundred plus years, Alice saw the greatest of inventions and the worst atrocities humankind has ever committed. Through all of the ebbs and flow of life, Alice was a woman of love. She was deeply loved and her love shall be deeply missed, but in all things her spirit shall accompany us in this time and in all times to come. May her life remain always in our hearts and memories.

Alice Grace Host died on Monday, January 30, 2006. She was preceded in death by her husband Lloyd N. and son Lloyd J., daughter and son-in-law Charlotte and Francis McWilliams and granddaughter Mary Lynn Host. Alice's family includes her daughters, Ruth and Edward Darling of Sparta, Mary and Julius Deuble of Baldwinsville, N.Y., daughter-in-law Barbara Host of Grand Rapids, 19 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren; sister-in-law Margaret Tingley; half-sisters, Edna Bush and Flossie and Lloyd Behrens, half-brothers, Wilbur and Arlene Rogers and Edward and Hozie Rogers and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends may meet Alice's family at the Heritage Lifestory Funeral Home-Alt & Shawmut Hills Chapel, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr. N.W. on Thursday, February 2, 2006 from 2-4PM and again from 7-9PM with the Rosary being prayed at 8:30PM. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, February 3, 2006 at 11AM at Holy Trinity Church, 1200 Alpine Church Rd. NW. Interment will be in Holy Trinity Cemetery. Please visit Alice's personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can share a memory, send flowers, or make a memorial contribution to Hospice of Michigan, 1260 Ekhart NE or St. Mary's Rehabilitation and Health Center, 1050 Four Mile N.W. The family wishes to thank the staff of Hospice and St Mary's Health Center for their wonderful and compassionate care.